Bernie Miller’s career spans leadership roles in law, environment, policy, research, and governance. He is now a Senior Advisor (Atlantic) at Mitacs.
Bernie Miller entered public service in January 2014 as Deputy Minister Office of Planning and Priorities and concluded his career in the Nova Scotia Public Service in September 2021 as Deputy Minister, Office of Strategy Management.
His team led the response to the ONE Nova Scotia Commission Report (Ivany Report), he co-led the Nova Scotia Population Growth Strategy and was the architect of the Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative to see 99% of households in Nova Scotia with access to high-speed Internet by 2023.
As Deputy Minister of Business, he recommended many policies and programs to advance innovation-driven entrepreneurship.
Bernie worked closely with Dr. Robert Strang, Chief Medical Officer of Health in policy, program design, and strategy in support of Nova Scotia’s world-leading response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
From 2006 to December 2013 he was the Managing Partner/CEO of McInnes Cooper, one of the largest law firms in Atlantic Canada and top law firms in Canada. He had overall responsibility for strategic planning and operational leadership of the firm during a period of significant growth. Bernie retired from McInnes Cooper on December 31, 2017.
Bernie practiced business law focused on environment, energy, and natural resources. He was key in developing the firm’s environmental law practice and CSR program. He was recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada 2013 for practices in Environmental, Aboriginal, and Natural Resources law and was consistently ranked in Lexpert’s leading lawyers in Canada.
Now, Managing Trustee of the Killam Trusts, a private, $500M+ trust which funds post-graduate research and higher education in Canada; Killam Trusts partnered with the National Research Council of Canada to develop new, inclusive National fellowship programs.
Bernie Miller is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers Society and from 1993 to 2015 the New Brunswick Law Society and in 1997 was the co-founder of the first McInnes Cooper office in New Brunswick.
He has the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
He served as the Vice-Chair (New Brunswick) and Governor of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, on the Advisory Board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and on the organizing committee of the 4Front Atlantic conferences. He is on the Board of Research Nova Scotia and Vice-Chair of ONSIDE, Nova Scotia’s Organization for Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Cresco and previously served as Corporate Secretary of Twin Rivers Paper Company.
Bernie joined PolicyWonks founders, Peter Nicholson and Jeff Larsen, in January 2022.